Sometimes when we are in a new country, the places we get to know depend too much on the tourist guides. According to the city maps most of my students bring, Buenos Aires is reduced to the city center, San Telmo, Retiro, Recoleta, Palermo, maybe Colegiales and Belgrano.

The same thing happens with the country as a whole. The Patagonia is Bariloche and Calafate. One has to go to Iguazú, but what about all the other incredible places in Misiones? Salta Capital and Cafayate are the places to go in the northwest, but there is so much more to do there!

Tucumán is a little “provincia” in the Argentinian northwest, to the south of Salta. It´s tiny but it has a lot of personality; in just a few kilometers, the landscape and the weather change completelly. I´m going to describe the part I know best, the “Tafí del Valle” area, located in the northwest and bordering on Catamarca and Salta.

Tucumán is divided by a mountain chain called “Aconquija”. On the east side, there is a jungle and the weather is very humid and warm. On the west side and in just a few kilometers, things change and lianas become cacti. There, you will find “los Valles Calchaquíes” (the Calchaquíes valleys), an amazing landscape. Most of all it’s a very special place because of its traditional indigenous culture, its music, and food.

If you want to get to this area, you have to go San Miguel de Tucumán (Tucumán´s capital) and take the “Aconquija” bus line on the bus station. The “Aconquija” bus will take you across the jungle, straight to the Valles Calchaquíes. The trip is absolutely amazing, so you should take a seat by the window!

Your first stop can be Tafí del Valle, a town between green mountains and cloudy tops. Eat lot of cheese there! (Tafí is famous for its homemade cheese production). After Tafi, you can go to the drier Amaicha del Valle. In the lovely Amaicha del Valle, you can visit “Los Zazos“, a smaller town, and walk until “El Remate”, a beautiful waterfall between the mountains. The road until El Remate, surrounded by a precipice with a river below, has the mountains on the horizon, the cacti, the little houses and a stong organic smell that is not easy to forget. After Amaicha, you can go to Quilmes, where the ancient Quilmes natives used to live. It´s an amazing archaeological and also political site. The Quilmes archaeological site used to be exploited by a corrupt businessman but a few years ago, the site was rescued by the area inhabitants (the living Quilmes ancestors), who are now taking care of the area.

To the north of Amaicha, there is another small and charming town called Colalao del Valle. It containes, vineyards, a more humid climate, and a little town square full of birds. And just 8 kilometers away is El Pichao, a town of 200 inhabitants, with its unspoiled archaeological site with such an incredible vibe.

It´s not difficult to travel around the area and since it´s not a “gringo” destination, it´s not expensive at all. There are thousand things to say about every tiny little place in Tucumán. More important than reading is having the experience by yourself!

Chacarita is a mysterious neighborhood, an unusual mixture of industrial and residential areas, a place where many porteños pass by -without stopping- to catch the train that will take them back home while others sleep in no hurry behind the walls of the cemetery. At first sight it doesn´t look very attractive – but the ones who really know it can talk about its hidden places that are worth discovering. Chacarita is neither a glamorous neighborhood nor a picturesque one. The ones who expect local stereotypes shouldn´t join this tour. However, if you feel like finding out what happens behind Buenos Aires´ walls and bumping into curious characters, come with us. The circuit has a shady area and a bright one. On the dark side we are going to pass through the walls of the cemetery to meet its ghosts, like the mythical singer who smokes from the afterlife, or the powerful tomb which, despite its emptiness, is full of symbols. On the bright side we are going to explore many stories of the living: two bars, one that hides under its floor the history of light and other one that turned into a pop icon. Besides that we are going to have a close-up on seemingly impossible projects that somehow worked out. Touring around this neighborhood is a good excuse to see the other side of how people live in Buenos Aires, to talk about its history (great names like Gardel and Perón and also ordinary people, like the ones who try to change the world by an organic market). All that in addition to sitting in a café and chatting for a while

When we are learning a new language, one of the biggest challenges is developing correct pronunciation. “Fill in the blank” excercises are an easy place to start, but when we actually start speaking everything sounds bad for a while.

Fortunately, at the University of Iowa, a team of people have developed a helpful website. There, you will find a virtual tutor to help you practice your pronunciation and be able to speak with less of a gringo accent.

And, if this doesn’t work, you can resign yourself to having a bad accent like Roberto Quénedi*, a singer who sings in English with a very thick Argentine accent.

* Roberto Quénedi is a character created by Peter Capusotto, an argentinian crazy comedian that we love.

FREE conversation club

Are you tired of saying “Hola, me llamo Juan”, “soy de …….”, “Estoy en Buenos Aires por ….. meses para aprender español y viajar” over and over? Now, you can come to our club and have a real conversation in Spanish.

Every Saturday in Belgrano area at 4 pmLimited vacancies. Confirm your attendance at: